The present application relates generally to power systems and, more particularly, to a sensor assembly and methods of adjusting the operation of a sensor.
Known machines may exhibit vibrations and/or other abnormal behavior during operation. One or more sensors may be used to measure and/or monitor such behavior and to determine, for example, an amount of vibration exhibited in a machine drive shaft, a rotational speed of the machine drive shaft, and/or any other operational characteristic of an operating machine or motor. Often, such sensors are coupled to a machine monitoring system that includes a plurality of monitors. The monitoring system receives signals from one or more sensors, performs at least one processing step on the signals, and transmits the modified signals to a diagnostic platform that displays the measurements to a user.
At least some known machines use eddy current sensors to measure the vibrations in and/or a position of a machine component. However, the use of known eddy current sensors may be limited because a detection range of such sensors is only about half of a width of the eddy current sensing element. Other known machines use optical sensors to measure a vibration and/or a position of a machine component. However, known optical sensors may become fouled by contaminants and provide inaccurate measurements, and as such, may be unsuitable for industrial environments. Moreover, known optical sensors may not be suitable for detecting a vibration and/or a position of a machine component through a liquid medium and/or a medium that includes particulates.
Moreover, at least some known sensors include antennas that have a plurality of antenna arms that radiate outward from a center of the antenna. In such antennas, the impedance of the antenna arms may increase from an inner portion to an outer portion of each antenna arm. Such an impedance change may cause current to be reflected from the outer portion to the inner portion when an electrical signal is transmitted through the antenna. To reduce such current reflections, at least some known antennas are coupled to a ground plane within the antenna. However, the use of such ground planes may increase a damping of the antenna such that an undesirable amount of energy is lost during operation of the antenna.